How to build a homeowner audience from public property data
A practical way to turn county property records and permit history into a list of homeowners worth reaching, and to keep that list honest about who you're allowed to contact.
The MapKnock team · · 6 min read
Most home-service marketing starts with a list someone else built. Public property data lets you build your own, one neighborhood at a time, around the homes your offer actually fits. It won't tell you who will say yes, but it tells you a lot about who almost certainly won't.
1. Start from the place, not the list
Draw the area you can serve well: the subdivisions near your shop, the streets around a job you just finished, the neighborhoods where your best customers live. Starting from geography keeps every prospect tied to a real home, and keeps your audience inside the area your crews can reach.
2. Keep the homes your offer fits
- Owner-occupied. County records list the owner and a mailing address. When the mailing address matches the property, the owner very likely lives there and makes the decision. It's an estimate, so treat it as one.
- Property type. Single-family homes behave differently from condos, where the roof and exterior are often an association's call.
- Permit history. Permits (a reroof, a solar install) tell you whether the work you sell is likely due, recently done or already in place. A home's age is a rougher guide.
3. Remove who you shouldn't contact
Subtracting is faster than adding. Take out existing customers, anyone who asked not to be contacted, and homes where your product is already installed. A smaller audience with none of these is a better one.
4. Separate “how to reach them” from “allowed to text them”
A contact lookup can find an owner's phone number. That doesn't make it OK to send a marketing text. Check every number against do-not-call lists, and only text people who've given consent: through your website, a yard-sign QR code, a conversation, or an existing customer relationship. Keep a record of when and how they opted in, and honor STOP immediately.
5. Save the audience and measure it
Save each audience by name so you can see what came of it: how many homes, how many contacts found, how many opted in, how many conversations, how many jobs. An audience that converts tells you where to draw next.
Where MapKnock fits
MapKnock was built around this workflow: draw an area, filter the homes by occupancy, age and permit history, save the result as a list, look up owners when a home is worth it, and text only the homeowners who opted in. See how it works.